RTO, flexibility and DEI: Why leaders are caught in the middle

HR departments are stuck between a rock and a hard place as employees and employers continue to be at odds with each other over workplace policies, strategies and benefits.

Forty-five percent of HR leaders say their workforce is divided due to political and cultural tensions, according to a recent survey from employee management platform Leapsome. As a result, 3 in 4 of them agree it's making it difficult to foster resilience or business impact — making navigating those issues difficult and resolving them nearly impossible. 

"Unfortunately, politics got in the way of the real purpose of a lot of [workplace] programs, with businesses being faced with how it will impact the bottom line," says Luck Dookchitra, VP of People at Leapsome. "This puts HR leaders in the tough spot of having to rethink everything we just spent all this time building and starting from scratch." 

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The most challenging example of this, according to Dookchitra, is the return to office. Fifty-six percent of HR leaders feel pressured by CEOs to enforce RTO mandates despite 82% believing collaboration can happen anywhere, and 79% saying that allowing employees to choose their work environment is best for productivity, according to Leapsome. Yet, outside drivers, such as expensive office leases organizations can't get out of and fears of productivity loss, keep RTO efforts moving forward regardless. 

"People [criticize] HR because during the pandemic we initially took on the role of communicating those changes to employees when it wasn't safe to come in," says Luck Dookchitra, VP of People at Leapsome. "We are the enforcers, even now when we have data that can actually push for a more people-forward way of thinking."

Differences of opinion on workplace culture have also added to the strain. Ninety-two percent of HR leaders report internal resistance when championing people-centric initiatives like DEI, as well as flexibility and well-being benefits. As a result, 45% feel pressured to decrease DEI efforts, and 1 in 3 are worried about further DEI budget cuts — which would only worsen the relationship between HR and the employees and employers they work with. 

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"It shouldn't be us against them," Dookchitra says. "We're just in this weird position of communicating something we don't always understand ourselves. Leaders have to own up to why they want to make changes so that HR can be honest about it to employees, versus trying to promote it as something it's not." 

In the oncoming months, as organizations face more potential shifts due to federal pressures and changes, HR leaders will have to find a way to balance the demands of the C-suite and the needs of the workforces they serve. In a climate where employees are willing to leave their posts over misaligned values, an organization's adaptability and success depends on people leaders' ability to communicate effectively. 

"All of these topics will be differentiators — whether you're in HR,  a business leader, or in charge of benefits," Dookchitra says. "And it's empowering to know that we really do have the power, authority and influence now to actually impact these things and give people the confidence to push for the change they want."